{"id":19983,"date":"2016-07-04T10:20:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-04T08:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/pressure-on-judiciary-intimidated-judges-and-prosecutors-listen-in-even-on-politicians-whispering\/"},"modified":"2019-09-04T18:34:02","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T16:34:02","slug":"pressure-on-judiciary-intimidated-judges-and-prosecutors-listen-in-even-on-politicians-whispering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/pressure-on-judiciary-intimidated-judges-and-prosecutors-listen-in-even-on-politicians-whispering\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressure on Judiciary: Intimidated Judges and Prosecutors Listen In Even on Politicians Whispering"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAt a press conference in June 2014 where Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong> announced dismissal of four heads of police administrations, he labelled Dragoslav Kosmajac<\/strong> \u2018Serbia\u2019s biggest drug-dealer\u2019. This is an individual whose name no one dares utter out loud, said Vu\u010di\u0107, and everyone is already familiar with the ties between Kosmajac and police and other services\u2019 officers.
\n\t 
\n\tIn November the same year, Kosmajac was arrested, but not for drug dealing. He was apprehended on suspicion of tax evasion, abuse of office by incitement, squatting and forging a document. Some media even dubbed him \u2018Serb Al Capone\u2019.
\n\t 
\n\tIn the autumn of 2015, the Higher Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office in Belgrade charged him with illegally appropriating a plot of land of about 7.5 acres. The indictment was referred back for amendment and then brought again last month, but has still not been confirmed. Another indictment from May this year alleged that Kosmajac evaded tax to the tune of about \u20ac 4,000, but it was thrown out in the same month as the First Basic Court in Belgrade found the offence in question to be a possible misdemeanour instead of a criminal one. The First Basic Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office has appealed against this ruling.
\n\t 
\n\tDragoslav Kosmajac case is not the only example in recent years where high-ranking state officials from previous governments and the current one would announce arrests, prejudice the outcomes of investigations and give estimates that a big new breakthrough in fighting corruption and organised crime has been made. For the time being, the results have failed to match the announcements.<\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n\tFear Is in the Air<\/h2>\n

\n\t 
\n\tIn December 2015 police operation code-named Cutter, 80 persons were arrested, including former agriculture minister Slobodan Milosavljevi\u0107<\/strong> and his associates, on suspicion of misappropriating about 7.8 million dinars in state funds. By late February all the detainees were released from custody, and the Interior Ministry filed 17 criminal charges against 93 persons by mid-June. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t

\n\t\tNo Final Verdicts in Disputed Privatisation Cases<\/h2>\n\t

\n\t\tPoliticians in power often spoke about the so-called ‘24 disputed privatisation cases<\/a>‘ and acquisitions of state-owned companies as if these cases had already been closed. According to information available in late May, the Organised Crime Special Prosecutor\u2019s Office established in four cases that no crime had been committed, whereas other disputed privatisation cases were still for the most part in the investigation phase. Not a single final judgment has been rendered in any of the pending cases, and only five trials are under way. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tFollowing this police action, interior minister Neboj\u0161a Stefanovi\u0107<\/strong> said the evidence collected was very solid and comprehensive \u2018so that it wouldn\u2019t happen again as earlier in the past to have to ponder if there was solid enough evidence, if the suspects were to be released, if charges were to be brought against them or if everything would fall through\u2019.
\n\t 
\n\tHe told a press conference that sufficient evidence was gathered and that he expected \u2018the prosecutors\u2019 offices and competent courts to do their job well as part of the ongoing criminal prosecution, resulting with convictions\u2019.
\n\t 
\n\tMinister Stefanovi\u0107 did not grant a request for an interview to the journalist from the Center for Investigative Journalism (CINS).
\n\t 
\n\tStatements by politicians and public officials place a heavy burden on prosecutors\u2019 offices and courts which are to handle cases where suspects have been labelled guilty in public thus creating an illusion that these cases have already been solved.
\n\t 
\n\tWhenever an expected outcome fails to come to pass, said the president of the Serbian Judiciary Trade Union, Sla\u0111anka Milo\u0161evi\u0107<\/strong>, an opinion is created in public that prosecutors\u2019 offices and courts are corrupt whereas the police have done their job. The rules stipulate that a prosecutor\u2019s office is to issue instructions to the police to gather evidence, she explained, but the prosecutors may solely act upon what the police have incorporated in criminal charges.
\n\t 
\n\tSerbian deputy public prosecutor Goran Ili\u0107<\/strong> said it is a problem when minister announces arrests as this gives an impression of everything being motivated by political reasons even though most often this was not so.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t

\n\t\tSerbian deputy public prosecutor Goran Ili\u0107 said there was a political influence on judiciary.
\n\t\tPhoto: Media Centre<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cThe moment a prosecutor takes over a case, even the minister has no knowledge, nor he should have any knowledge of the developments in the proceedings, except in the event of the prosecutor\u2019s complaint against a police officer\u2019s failure to act as instructed,\u201d explained Ili\u0107.
\n\t 
\n\tIn its March 2016 Report on Current State in Judiciary, the Anti-Corruption Council cited as one of the biggest problems the pressure exerted on prosecutors and judges who were receiving through politicians\u2019 statements instructions and warnings as to what they had to do.
\n\t 
\n\tRecently published annual report by ombudsman Sa\u0161a Jankovi\u0107<\/strong> also highlighted \u2018a strong public perception, which is difficult to substantiate, that judicial and prosecutorial public offices are under a strong influence of the political authorities\u2019.
\n\t 
\n\tTo illustrate the point, both the Anti-Corruption Council and ombudsman cited the example of former Belgrade Special Court president Vladimir Vu\u010dini\u0107<\/strong> who presided over a trial chamber in the proceedings against Miroslav Mi\u0161kovi\u0107<\/strong>. Following his decision to return temporarily the passport to Mi\u0161kovi\u0107, Vu\u010dini\u0107 came under significant pressure which was why he eventually re-established his practice as a lawyer.
\n\t 
\n\tVu\u010dini\u0107 told CINS he would take the same decision again adding that he was guided by law and the principle of presumption of innocence in the process. He did not try to hide his disappointment over scant support by his colleagues going on to say that this perhaps was an opportunity to show some integrity.
\n\t 
\n\t\u201cI think it\u2019s fear. One should say it in public. Fear is in the air,\u201d said Vu\u010dini\u0107.<\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n\tMedia as Government\u2019s Messengers<\/h2>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t

\n\t\tSome daily newspapers\u2019 cover pages featuring announcements of arrests since December 2015.
\n\t\tCollage: CINS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tFor days, Miroslav Mi\u0161kovi\u0107<\/strong> was the main feature in tabloids\u2019 cover pages and politicians often cited him as an example of the fight against corruption. In June Mi\u0161kovi\u0107 received an intermediate judgment sentencing him to five years in prison over aiding his son Marko in tax evasion, but was acquitted on charges of corruption, i.e. abuse of office.
\n\t 
\n\tMedia are carrying uncritically the opinions of strong political figures as to how specific trials should look like, said Miodrag Maji\u0107<\/strong>, a judge of the Belgrade Court of Appeals, and the judiciary is sometimes susceptible to this sort of pressure.
\n\t 
\n\t\u201cFor quite some time, the media have served as chief messengers of the executive authority telling everyone how they should behave, even which decisions to make. (…) If there weren\u2019t susceptible judges and prosecutors in sufficient numbers to receive such instructions, this wouldn\u2019t be so simple\u201d, said Maji\u0107.
\n\t
\n\tIn Vladimir Vu\u010dini\u0107\u2019 s view, public officials have no authority whatsoever to comment on the proceedings which have just started.
\n\t 
\n\t\u201cAll those statements, particularly if they\u2019re coming from the government\u2019s top brass in this country, certainly may influence anyone coming into contact with a case in question \u2013 police, prosecutors\u2019 offices and ultimately courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t

\n\t\tDecade-Long Investigation without Confirmed Charges<\/h2>\n\t

\n\t\tFor over a decade, investigations have been going on into the case of Bogoljub Kari\u0107<\/strong>, who\u2019s been on the run, on suspicion of abuse of office and inflicting damage to Mobtel company partly owned by the state. Indictment against him has not been confirmed to date. In April, the Higher Court in Belgrade remitted the latest amended indictment to the Higher Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office for an order to additionally amend the investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tNenad Stefanovi\u0107<\/strong>, a deputy prosecutor with the Third Basic Prosecutor\u2019s Office in Belgrade, explained the pace of some proceedings might even be stepped up due to public pressure.
\n\t 
\n\t\u201cThe cases where there\u2019s no either public or media pressure, except on the part of lawyers who are indeed in a hurry \u2013 well, those are the cases where I don\u2019t know what the outcome will be\u201d, said Stefanovi\u0107.
\n\t 
\n\tRecently CINS published an investigation<\/a> showing that a large number of cases were going on for too long and that they were plagued by adjournment of hearings, default of appearance by witnesses and amendments to charges brought. In late 2015, there was a backlog of as many as 583 criminal cases whose trials in Serbia\u2019s courts of first instance lasted for over a decade.
\n\t 
\n\tOnce the corruption trials eventually come to conclusion<\/a>, the sentences are for the most part suspended, whereas more than half of all the judgments from 2013 through to 2015 were acquittals and nonsuits.<\/p>\n

\n\t 
\n\tPolitically Eligible People End Up in High Places<\/h2>\n

\n\t 
\n\tExcept for using media as a mouthpiece for their targeted messages, politicians are exercising their influence on judiciary through appointments of judicial office holders. Fallout from the 2009 failed judicial reform, carried out by the then justice minister Sne\u017eana Malovi\u0107<\/strong>, when a large number of judges and prosecutors were given their marching orders, is still being felt.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t

\n\t\tPalace of Justice houses three Belgrade basic courts and prosecutors\u2019 offices as well Belgrade Higher Court and Higher Prosecutor\u2019s Office.
\n\t\tPhoto: Lazar Mr\u010danica<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tMajority of judges who were relieved of their public offices at the time by the High Judicial Council\u2019s decision sued the state and most of them were granted damages for the time spent out of work unlawfully.
\n\t 
\n\tA criminal charge over alleged abuse of public office in the course of judiciary reform and the estimated damage inflicted of 1.5 billion of dinars was brought against the High Judicial Council members, but was thrown out in December 2014. The total damage inflicted on the state budget has never been established.
\n\t 
\n\tFear of being removed from their offices at any given time by some executive authorities has been creeping into the prosecutors\u2019 organisation and judicial authorities since 2009\/2010, said prosecutor Nenad Stefanovi\u0107<\/strong>.
\n\t 
\n\tAccording to Judiciary Trade Union\u2019s Sla\u0111anka Milo\u0161evi\u0107, prosecutors and judges today are intimidated by the failed judicial reform and the problem is no one\u2019s been held accountable for blunders, \u201cThey\u2019re so intimidated that they listen in even on politicians whispering.\u201d
\n\t 
\n\tPublic prosecutors are formally nominated by the Serbian Government, to which a portion of the candidates are put forth by the State Prosecutorial Council, whilst the Parliament ultimately elects them.
\n\t 
\n\tProsecutor Goran Ili\u0107<\/strong> said the election of prosecutors served as a conduit for letting off steam built up by politicians\u2019 pressure on prosecutors\u2019 offices where the appointment procedure was ultimately political in its nature.
\n\t 
\n\t\u201cNo one who hasn\u2019t ingratiated himself with the current or any other government cannot be appointed to an important position in a public prosecutor\u2019s office,\u201d said Ili\u0107 and added that with this in mind other types of direct pressures were not necessary \u201cgiven that only \u2018politically eligible\u2019 people end up in important senior positions\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politicians are sending out messages through the media where they pick out culprits in advance and thus bid courts and prosecutors\u2019 offices what to do in specific cases, whilst creating an illusion in public that a case in question has been solved. Judges and prosecutors are already intimidated following the 2009 failed judicial reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1339,"featured_media":17865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1596,1492],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court-and-prosecution","category-investigative-stories","ciTrackContent"],"acf":[],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/1467588200~~Ilustracija-Pritisci.png","author_additional":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22287,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19983\/revisions\/22287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}